The Priest Ka’a
My name was Ka’a. I am friend, mentor and teacher to Esephris during the early period of Egyptian history. I was part of the Egyptian priesthood that served the Egyptian Gods and Pharos. We were keepers of tradition and maintainers of the knowledge. We were the Sage leaders of the people. Our wisdom was designed to guide the people and influence the ruling class for the benefit of all. We were an integral part of Egyptian culture.
My dealing with Esephris started when he was a small child. His father, Sepron, was a statesman of the royal house and we had many dealings together, as did most of the stately order. As time progressed I grew close to Sepron and his family, and would guide him in his life’s work. As Esephris grew we became close, I never had a son of my own, the Priesthood was forbidden to take wives. I would teach him the ways of politics as did his father, but through the aspect of the priesthood.
As Esephris grew of age, which was 10 at the time, I began to see in him unique talents. He appeared to be much older than most and would carry himself with the presence and charisma of someone twice his age. It was at that time in his life, through agreement of his father that I began to teach him the “Ways of Old”.
The “Ways of Old” were a mystery to many of the time. There were only a handful of priests within the order that maintained its knowledge. It was considered to be a secret to most, even the Pharos. It was said that Thoth, the scribe, keeper of all Egyptian wisdom, hand picked the first order of priests to maintain this wisdom. He instructed that it was to be blended into Egyptian culture over time, because the magnitude of this wisdom was profound. This wisdom if misused could level nations.
So the order of priests took a solemn vow to never reveal the wisdom, and to choose wisely their predecessors, to maintain it. This is how I became a priest of the order, handpick at age 15 by the high priest himself and given my priestly name Ka’a, which meant gifted with spirit. It is in this same manner that I saw in Esephris the same abilities and gift of wisdom. So Esephris’ training began.
He used to come visit me in the Temple of Ra, as a child, and was always fascinated by the architecture. We would sit for hours retelling the stories of old, and I would instruct him in the ways of the written language as well as all aspects of Egyptian life. Most children of statesmen are groomed to follow the class and order of their birthright. But some tend to cling to it for the wrong reasons. That is why I made it a point to teach Esephris myself.
He was never quite like the other children. He seemed to have the gift of knowing and foresight and was very interested in learning everything he could. The other children were more interested in causing trouble, as most kids do. He was particularly interested in learning about the stars. He was fascinated by their beauty and mystery, and always seemed to slip away in gaze as if he could actually go there. So I taught him all there was to know about their movement, their connection to the seasons and the crops of the field. This is why when at age 16 it was only fitting that his first royal assignment was management of the fields. Or particularly one field, that is how most apprentice statesman begin their life’s work.
I would continue to check on him from time to time visiting his field and blessing the crops. The workers all loved their supervisor. He seemed to care about them more than the others. It was part of his gift; he had a connection with them, and understood them. He would continue to visit me at the temple mostly for his lessons, but an occasional off the subject lessons as well.
When his father and I agreed he was to learn the “Ways of Old” we had to set up secret meetings. As part of the orders vow of secrecy, Esephris could not be taught in public places. Most of these lessons were taught in a secret room of the temple known only by the chosen order. The room was ordained with many hieroglyphs and images, some of which were not Egyptian in origin, but the language of old. It was said that the God Thoth created this room himself and used it to scribe many writings of wisdom. Some say he may have even written the order of the universe in that very room.
Esephris loved attending these lessons; he was always very excited and insistent on starting. He especially loved being in the room. I felt it gave him a sense of power as if he was absorbing the wisdom from the walls. He wanted to learn about all the tools of magic that were kept in secret in the room. One item he was particularly interested in was the “Star of Horus”. The “Star” was known only to the secret order. No one in Egypt, not even the Pharaoh himself knew of its existence.
The Star was said to have been created from the Ka of the universe, and given to Horus by Ra himself. It was a highly polished crystalline sphere. It glowed with a light all its own, as if Ra reached up, took a star form the heavens and encased it in crystal. The energy source was referred to as the Ka of Horus or Spirit of Horus. It was believed to contain his essence, and through which he could enter the heavenly divide. It was also known by the order to contain much wisdom and power. In the wrong hand the Star could do great damage, even destroy the earth. That is why the secret had to be maintained.